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Nissan Won't Build Its Own Electric Car Batteries Anymore (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Balancing every single task by oneself, instead of getting some help, can break a person down in record time. That's likely why Nissan has decided to step away from manufacturing batteries for its electric vehicles. Nissan announced on Tuesday that it would sell its battery-manufacturing subsidiary, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), to the Chinese investment firm GSR Capital. "This is a win-win for AESC and Nissan. It enables AESC to utilize GSR's wide networks and proactive investment to expand its customer base and further increase its competitiveness," said Hiroto Saikawa, president and CEO of Nissan, in a statement. "In turn, this will further enhance Nissan's EV competitiveness. AESC will remain a very important partner for Nissan as we deepen our focus on designing and producing market-leading electric vehicles."
Seriously, they control their own future and have the ability to drop costs relative to others.
OTOH, companies like Nissan, GM, Ford, etc that do NOT build their own plants will not be able to compete against Germans (who are late to the game, but getting there), the Chinese (who will learn how to properly make cars, but at this time, only a fool would buy), and Tesla.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Nissan's battery factories are in Japan; Zama and Sagamihara Kanagawa. They'll be shutting those for GSR's Chinese factories.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Maybe we should just get it over with and surrender to the Chinese. They're going to own us all eventually anyway. It's amazing what you can do with the slave labor of 1.2 billion people at your disposal.
Nissan did the Tesla strategy before Tesla did; namely in order to build a mass-market EV (Leaf) they need to control their own supply chain and partnered with NEC to form AESC to build their own batteries. In the beginning they were market leaders (example: Nissan+NEC Leaf was MUCH better then the Mitsubishi+Toshiba iMiev)
What is interesting is GM+LG Chem and Tesla+Panasonic made better batteries cheaper then Nissan+NEC; the latest Leaf is evidence of that (2018 Leaf is expected to be 160 miles of range whereas the BoltEV is 238 miles of range both within the same price range, size and weight).
So Nissan is jumping ship and going to LG Chem. Now what will be fascinating is both Hyundai, GM and Nissan will be competing for LG Chem Cells.
The other wildcard is Samgsung+BMW; so far their cells have not been competitive; I'm curious if they'll step up or bow out like NEC did.
Balancing every single task by oneself, instead of getting some help, can break a person down in record time.
Nissan is a large company, with lots of people.
This is either selling assets to pay down debt, or upper management thinking that they can't be competitive as battery manufacturers.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Tesla's next vehicle will be coal powered according to multiple sources. Clean American coal is the future, not lithium.
There are pros and cons to outsourcing. But if there's one thing that's asymptotic to pure truth, it's never ever outsource your core competency.
In the case of EVs, your core competencies are Battery Design and EV Drivetrain.
Outsourcing half your core competency right as the market starts to pick up and get competitive sure seems like surefire way to be left behind.
"Balancing every single task by oneself, instead of getting some help, can break a person down in record time. "
Good thing Nissan is not a person. Seriously you are comparing apples to monkeys here.
I think we're starting to see electric vehicles go the way of 3D TV and Ruby on Rails. Like those other dead technologies, electric cars had a huge amount of hype surrounding them, but they haven't necessarily been able to deliver on that hype.
Just like 3D TV and Ruby on Rails, an electric car sounds really great until you actually try to use it. It becomes bothersome when limited range is an issue. Charging is a hassle, especially compared to spending a couple of minutes to fill up at a gas pump. It often isn't any cheaper than buying gas, especially in areas with costly electricity prices. They can be impractical for those living in an area with only street or parking garage parking, where power outlets may not be available. They may not even be any better from an environmental perspective, when considering the environmental costs of manufacturing batteries. Having a rare and unusual car that most mechanics don't have experience with can be unnerving. Overall, the electric car experience can easily end up being not-so-great for a lot of purchasers.
The hype around 3D TVs and Ruby on Rails wore off as early adopters became aware of the realities of those technologies. What was initially promised was only partially delivered, and customers/users soon lost interest. Now those technologies have become largely forgotten. Manufacturers and users moved away from them. Demand dried up. Suppliers moved on.
While I don't want to say that electric cars will always be impractical, there's little to suggest that they'll have a big impact any time soon. Maybe someday we'll have the technology and infrastructure available to make electric cars practical. But that day appears to be very far off.
So Nissan gets their engines from Mazda and Cummins and now they'll get their batteries from someone else as well.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
That's a big FUCK YOU ELON MUSK.
And their cars will be cheaper to own also, let me already say this: RIP TESLA.
Elon Musk continues to take billions in taxpayer subsidies through his various "green" shell companies, and we're worried that a company that isn't a battery manufacturer wants to get its batteries from a company that IS a battery manufacturer?
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundi...
Great. So Nissan will be using shitty Chinese-made batteries. Expect to see lots of news stories about Nissan EVs exploding in fireballs for no reason while sitting in traffic.
Open your ICE hood/bonnet. What does the radiator say? Denso. What does the AC compressor say? Denso.
It pretty does not matter what car you purchase today. The parts overlap significantly. Companies that crank out more parts volume can do it for lower cost.
To lower the battery cost, manufacturers need volume. Right now, there is not enough volume for one manufacturer to make the venture profitable. The price point has been getting lower over the years though.
My Leaf gets more compliments than my Porsche. The difference is who I get them from. Almost all of the Leaf complements come from women, while the Porsche complements come from men.
It is simply a matter of taste.
Tesla reminds me a lot of Apple..... Knew exactly how to generate a "buzz" around their products, while actually doing a pretty good job of doing R&D to make cool (but expensive) things people want to own.
Apple users are often accused of being religious zealots too.
The thing is though? The "big boys" of automotive have a big disadvantage. They're heavily invested in internal combustion engines, unlike Tesla. Almost all of them are still trying to manufacture traditional vehicles while simultaneously switching some of them to electric. They aren't always building cars from the ground up, designed to only be electric. They're shoe-horning batteries and motors into cars that were originally designed for gasoline engines (like the Kia Soul).
Chevy seems like they have a better chance than the others, but they've been building electric cars (at least sporadically) since the 90's with the EV-1. And even with 2 of them on sale right now -- sales are sluggish and people are unexcited by them. I have low confidence they can compete head-to-head with Tesla because they lack imagination.